Cineworks is looking for a temporary part-time DIGITAL MEDIA COORDINATOR with working knowledge of Avid, Final Cut Pro and Pro Tools and a passion for film. The ideal candidate excels at problem-solving technical issues, understands multiple video and film formats and enjoys helping filmmakers through the post-production process.

Duties and responsibilities for this position include:

• Booking and coordinating the Cineworks Post-production suites
• Preparing keys and showing members how to navigate the alarm systems for their suites
• Providing basic technical assistance for the edit suites and machine room
• Giving a biweekly orientation of the Cineworks facilities
• Doing routine maintenance and upgrades to the editing systems
• Troubleshooting network and Operating System issues
• Doing basic updates to our web site in Expression Engine

Starting salary $18/Hour, approximately 25 Hours/Week

Interested applicants with the above qualifications can forward their resumes to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with the header “DMC Position” no later than Thursday, January 22, 2009. We thank all applicants but please note that you will only be contacted if we are able to offer an interview.

Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society is excited to present The Soft Revolution, an interactive cinematic installation by Vancouver-based media artists Brian Johnson and Anthony Roberts.

Curate by cheyanne turions.

The Soft Revolution explores cinematic narrative form in a highly abstracted, tangential way. Just as the phenomenon of persistence of vision allows the human brain to perceived a series of rapidly presented still images as fluid motion–one might suggest an analogous phenomenon that we will call the persistence of narrative. In such a scenario, despite continuous digression, little exposition and a structure that engages the chaotic nature of the I-Ching, scenes accumulate meaning and ultimately story, through a continuity of theme, character and the common referent of the aforementioned Taoist philosophical text. Just as we look for representational elements within the abstract [faces in clouds, astrological figures], mankind's desire to understand causal situations in terms of narrative is deeply ingrained. The Soft Revolution explores this nexus between reverie and story.

Created by independent media artists Brian Johnson and Anthony Roberts, The Soft Revolution is a three-channel video installation. When participants interact with the work by making narrative choices on the control consoles, a simple local network of computers running on a combination of purpose built hardware and software translates and transmits their decisions to installation screens. The Soft Revolution is an action, a performance, and will never be read the same way twice. Though not explicitly about the technology behind the scenes, the improvisatory nature of The Soft Revolution is an innovative exploration of cinematic forms because it shifts the weight of narrative framing squarely to the particular interacting participant.

The Soft Revolution
Opening 22 January 2009, 7-9 pm, artists in attendance
Friday, 23 January, 1-5pm
Saturday, 24 January, 1-5pm
Wednesday, 28 January, 1-5pm
Thursday, 29 January, 1-5pm
Friday, 30 January, 1-5pm
Interurban Gallery [1 East Hastings]

Cineworks gratefully acknowledges our exhibition supporters: the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, CiTR, Electric Theatre Company, the Western Front and the Interurban.

MONTHLY READING + DISCUSSION GROUP EXPLORING CINEMA + CINEMATIC PRACTICE THROUGH WRITTEN WORDS

A monthly reading + discussion group, Thought on Film aims to promote critical thought around film product and practice through community-based discussion. Open to the public, Thought on Film fosters the close reading of texts confronting issues in contemporary, cutting-edge cinematic practice and philosophy.

Provoked by Anthony Roberts + Brian Johnson’s The Soft Revolution, an interactive cinematic installation Cineworks is presenting this month at the Interurban, January’s meeting will feature Lev Manovich’s essay “The New Language of Cinema.” Says Manovich in the introduction to The Language of New Media, the book from which this essay is drawn, “We no longer think of the history of cinema as a linear march toward a single possible language, or as a progression toward perfect verisimilitude. On the contrary, we have come to see its history as a succession of distinct and equally expressive languages, each with its own aesthetic variables, and each closing off some of the possibilities of its predecessor.” Roberts + Johnson’s interactive film exploits exactly this space between cinema as it has been and cinemas as they are becoming by using digital technology [and the principles of the I-Ching] to make pointed reference to contemporary artistic researches, and Manovich’s essay makes a compelling argument for how and why this is possible.

Experimenting with the form of reading groups and their discussions, this month’s selection will be read out loud by participants. No pre-reading required!

If  you have any questions about Thought on Film, please do not hesitate to contact Programs Manager cheyanne turions at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Thought On Film XII
reading Lev Manovich’s “The New Language of Cinema”
Cineworks [1131 Howe, back lane entrance]
27 January 2009, 6pm
Free

Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society celebrates our presentation of the interactive cinematic installation The Soft Revolution with a discussion with its makers.

Are artists still defined by their chosen medium? How does the movement toward an interdisciplinary approach to creation affect artistic product and practice? Focusing on inventive uses of film in practices that are not film-centric, and given the proliferation of artist films in galleries, this salon will explore the future of film outside of the theatre. This moderated discussion will feature excerpts of The Soft Revolution to guide a dialogue that will take place in an intimate and informal atmosphere where audience members will be encouraged to join the exchange.

BRIAN JOHNSON’s current field of work challenges the traditional parameters of filmmaking by inviting immediacy and improvisation into the cinematic experience. He is a member of the Truth Channel–an ongoing collective of artists working in the emerging forms of multimedia and performed cinema.

ANTHONY ROBERTS is a writer/director, composer and teacher. He has worked on a number of groundbreaking film and multimedia projects whose concerns range from interactivity to improvisation to surrealist collage. In 1990 he formed The Truth Channel with filmmaker Bill Mullan–an experimental multimedia group that has co-produced over two-dozen installations/performances.

Through his artistic practise, moderator DEMIAN PETRYSHYN focuses on those devalued aspects of popular culture, which are generally consumed by young men including video games, model kits, junk food and sci-fi movies. Rooted in the tradition of interdisciplinary and conceptually based practises, his current and recent work is characterized both by the sincerity of his involvement in each activity and the humour engendered by their failures.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTISTS IN THE CINEMATIC CONTINUUM
29 January 2009, 7pm
Interurban Gallery [1 East Hastings]
Free

Electronic Animation for Independent Filmmakers

Adobe After Effects is a powerful application used to create motion graphics and visual effects for film and video. It is an industry-standard application, widely used in broadcast graphics, music videos, feature films and corporate films to elevate projects beyond basic editing to a whole new level of dynamic visual interest.

In this introductory course, you will learn how to use After Effects to create sophisticated motion graphics, including text and object animations, compositing videos and images, adding effects and manipulating time. You'll learn how to set keyframes on a timeline and work with transform properties, motion paths, masks, and effects, developing a solid foundation.  Because of the versatility of the program and the small class size the course can be tailored to address the specific interests and questions of students.

Practice time is included with the workshop, allowing students to explore the program and come back with questions for a final day of instruction.

INTRODUCTION TO AFTER EFFECTS
31 January + 07 February 2009, 10am-4pm [instruction]
01-06 February 2009 [practice time]
Cineworks [1131 Howe Street, back lane entrance]
Cost is $150 for members/$200 for non-members

Registration: Please call 604.685.3841 or send an electronic message to Leanne at info(at)cineworks.ca.

Registration Deadline: 28 January 2009

Instructor: Jason De Groote is a freelance editor, motion graphics artist, producer and director.  He is a graduate of the Communication Studies Film program at Concordia University in Montreal and has plied his crafts on all types of projects from music videos, documentaries and corporate films, to narrative film, television and commercial projects.

www.jasondegroote.com